The neodigital saga
by A Hopeless Romantic
Summary: Contains Sorato, Michi, Takari and Kenlei. Two years after Malomyotismon the season 1 Digidestined are summoned to rescue the Harmonious ones and defeat their gratest enemy while the others prepare for invasion.
1. Chapter 1

This takes place approximately two years after the defeat of Malomyotismon. I have chosen ages for the Digi-destined so that it fits in with my story. Joe is in medical college and is 19. Tai, Sora, and Matt are all 18. They are starting normal college in Japan. Izzy and Mimi are both 17. Izzy is in college with Tai and the others. You will find out more about Mimi as the story progresses. TK, Kari, Davis, Ken, and Yolei are all 14. Ken still goes to a different school. Cody has just turned 13 and is a year behind them in school.

This starts of general but will lead to Sorato, Michi, Takari, and Kenlei coupling. There will also be some other surprise coupling along the way.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or any of its characters.

AN: I revamped the story format a bit. As theladyknight, my mentor and idol, pointed out with helpful constructive criticism it was confusing jumping from speaker to speaker like it was before.

**Ballet Kitty**: Yea, my first reviewer, I think I will allow you a prize. Pick anything you would like to see in this story except for a romance or villain. It will be written in. BTW, you are correct about Cody's age but I made him really smart and morphed his age scale for this story.

**theladyknight**: my mentor and idol. Thanks so much for reviewing. I hope to see many more reviews from you soon. I don't want to spill any secrets so I will tell you that you have a perceptive eye and are right in some of your assumptions.

Many thanks to **Ai Ishida** and **JyouraKoumi**

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* * *

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_Darkness, beautiful darkness._

_I must let it spread. It wants to spread. It wants to consume and corrupt. So much power resides in it, so much power. It must be mine, it **will** be mine. But first I must let it go. I must let grow and become more. Then, then it will allow me to be reborn! And once I am reborn, I will seek out and destroy those meddling creatures that thought they could bring about my doom._

_Those meddling creatures and their pitiful digimon. Then I will destroy the digital world and all other worlds!

* * *

_

The symbols were glowing again. They were the only light in the dim room that he was in. So Gennai walked up to them and started to interpret them. There was a familiar feel that he experienced while reading them.

"New darkness… evil reborn… hmmm…and the chosen children." He gasped. "The Chosen Children! That's the Digi-destined! Oh my, I will have work to do. Maybe this has something to do with Azulongmon's recent disappearance?"

And with this thought he walked off to do some more research. The symbols continued to glow in his absence.

* * *

"TAI! Wake up!" a voice screamed in the eighteen year olds ear. His eyes slowly opened up as his hand reached up to cover his yawn. He proceeded to rub the sleep from his eyes and blinked a couple of times before staring up at his younger sister.

"Kari, why are you waking me up so early in the morning?" He yawned. "Oh come on Tai, it's only eight o'clock. And you need to get up now or else we're going to be late." Kari pulled the duvets aside and yanked her elder brother out of bed. She pointed to the door and then started to push him out.

Still in a sleepy state Tai just yawned once more and asked, "What are we going to be late for anyways?"

Kari, still pushing him towards the bathroom, decided to remind him. "Today's the day that Mimi and her parents are returning to Odaiba and you promised her that you would bring the car so that we could help carry some of her luggage. And with Mimi, you know there is going to be a lot of luggage." Kari giggled the last part.

Tai finally awoke at this statement and remembered the discussion that the whole gang had yesterday.

---Flashback---

The gang had gathered up at the schools computer room at the request of Sora. All the younger Digi-destined as well as Tai and Izzy, were already there waiting for the rest to show up.

"What's taking Matt and Sora so long?" Davis complained. "And what is this meeting about anyway?"

"We don't know Davis, but Sora did say that it had to be done today." Izzy answered.

At this point Kari, who was sitting in between TK and Yolei, stood up. "I think it has something to do with Mimi."

TK asked "Why do you think that Kari?"

"Well, Mimi arrives from America tomorrow and Sora has been talking about it ever since Mimi found out that her father got transferred back here." Yolei nodded along, remembering Sora talking non-stop about their friend. "I think," Kari continued "that she wants to plan some sort of party for Mimi."

At this point the door opened up and Matt and Sora walked in, holding each other's hands. They had been dating for almost two years but were still taking it slow. "That's exactly what this meeting is for Kari." Sora said referring to the earlier conversation. "I wanted to see what you guys thought about my idea."

Matt walked up and pulled up a chair for Sora. She smiled at him and sat down. He returned the smile and sat next to her while asking, "What exactly is your idea?" Sora looked at everyone and was about to reply when the doors to the computer room flew open once again and a blue haired young man with glasses rushed in with a disheveled look. He was carrying a bag that was flooding with papers.

"Wait, I'm here, I'm here. Don't start the meeting without me." he yelled. He then proceeded to trip over his feet and fall flat on his face. Sniggers and chuckles were heard from the boys as the girls went over to help him up.

Davis then asked aloud "Hey, if Joe is here then it must be a pretty big party."

"What party?" Joe wondered, looking at Tai and Matt. Sora answered for them.

"I was just about to tell the others my idea for a party for Mimi." She wasn't looking where she was going and as a result, bumped into Ken while on her way back to her seat. "Oh, sorry Ken."

"That's ok Sora" Ken replied back.

Sora smiled lightly at the younger boy and thanked him. "By the way, thank you for coming all the way over here on such short notice."

"No problem Sora, I was more then happy too. I've also got to pick up a few groceries later on, so I would have been passing by anyway."

Sora then sat down and explained her idea. "Mimi arrives at the airport at nine fifteen tomorrow morning. I thought that it would be nice if we all went there to meet her there and help her parents with the luggage and drive them home. I also thought that the girls and I could take Mimi shopping while you boys go and help decorate Mimi's home for the surprise party."

Davis then stood up and pouted. "Hey, why do we have to do the work while you go and shop?"

"I don't have a problem with decorating duty" Cody said, "I kinda like it."

"Don't worry Davis; we'll all be there to help out." Izzy said.

"Absolutely, I'm in."

"So am I."

"Me too." Everyone unanimously agreed that it would be a good idea.

--- End Flashback---

Tai's eyes widened immediately and jumped to attention. He rushed to the bathroom and began to quickly apply toothpaste to his toothbrush. "Kari, you should have woken me up earlier. It's a forty five minute drive to the airport and we have no idea what traffic is like."

Kari giggled at her brother's statement. Tai was never organized in the morning; it was a surprise when he even knew what day it was. She wondered if all older siblings were like that. She would have to ask TK later, maybe Yolei as well.

Suddenly Tai burst out of the bathroom and ran past Kari and towards the front door muttering something about his car needing gas. There was a shriek heard before he came back into the house apologizing to their mother about running out in his PJs. Through out this whole time his toothbrush was hanging unceremoniously from his mouth. Kari smiled and continued getting ready. "Looks like it's going to be another one of those days."

* * *

Matt looked around the large white building, turning a full 360 degrees before arriving at his original position. 'I can't believe how big this place has gotten,' he thought 'the last time I was here there wasn't an ice cream stand.' 'Who would put up and ice cream stand in the airport.' He turned to his companion and asked her "Did you know that they had put up an ice cream stand here?"

The pretty redhead turned to him and smiled. Her eyes seemed to shimmer as she replied "Thinking of food already Matt. You're starting to act like Tai more and more."

Matt blushed lightly and said "Don't blame me Sor, I haven't had breakfast yet."

"Speaking of Tai, what is taking him so long?" a third voice asked. Both Matt and Sora turned to the second redhead of the group. Izzy continued "I know that he is always late, but you would think that he would arrive on time today."

"We won't be able to carry the entire luggage without another car. What happens if we overload the cars and they break down?" The three of them turned to the last person in the group. The tallest one of them, ol' reliable Joe with blue hair and eyeglasses, stood worrying as always. "Jim will kill me if the car breaks down."

"Aw, quit worrying Joe. I'm sure Tai will be here in time." For the third time in less than two minutes Matt turned to a new speaker. His younger brother, arriving along side Ken, Yolei, and Cody, had jumped into the conversation.

Yolei then spoke up, arms flailing about, "What I want to know is why Davis is taking so long in there. We all promised that we would be here to meet Mimi."

"Don't worry Yolei, I'm sure that he will be here on time just like Kari and Tai." Said Cody.

At this point Izzy turned to Ken. "Where did you guys go off to?"

"We went to check what time the flight come in.," replied the younger boy. "It seems that all is in order and they will arrive on time. There was a head wind earlier that would have delayed them if not for the tail wind that they caught as they neared Japan."

"That's strange." Izzy replied. "It's very rare to get both a tail and a head wind."

The eight of them stood in silence for a second before Sora noticed something. "Hey where's Davis?" TK merely jerked his thumb to the large sign that said restrooms.

Matt smirked as he asked his sibling, "He didn't get them mixed up, did he?" TK, Izzy and Yolei burst out laughing while Joe, Ken and Cody smiled or chuckled.

Sora, however, slapped Matt's shoulder and frowned. "That's not a nice thing to say Matt. Plus I think even Davis might know the difference between the male and female bathrooms."

"Actually Sora, there have been some occasions in Davis' younger days…" Joe said stopping as he saw the reactions of the others.

"How do you know what Davis was like in his younger days?" Matt asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I… um… I've heard stories." Joe stuttered back.

"Who from?" TK now joined in the playful interrogation.

Joe decided to change the topic "Look," he said pointing behind them "Tai and Kari have finally arrived."

Surly enough there were two teenagers strolling towards the group. Tai waved to them and jogged up ahead, "Hey guys, sorry we're so late but Kari took too long eating breakfast."

"Not all of us can swallow food whole Tai." Kari said as she caught up to her big brother. "And if I remember correctly, you were the one who forgot to fill the car's tank." Tai was about to reply but was interrupted by the intercom.

"BING… Attention, Flight JL 20045 is arriving at Gate twelve. Repeat. Flight JL 20045 is arriving at Gate twelve. Thank you… BING"

"That's Mimi's flight!" Sora exclaimed. She was getting excited at the fact that she would be able to see her best friend again. It had been so long since they had seen her. It was two years ago, since the issue with Malomyotismon. Now her best friend was coming back permanently. "Lets go!"

"What about Davis?" TK asked, "Should one of us wait for him."

"No need to. Look." Joe said pointing towards the boy that was running towards them.

The younger version of Tai stopped short of them and said "Hey, I just heard the message over the intercom. Is that Mimi's flight?"

The anger on Yolei's face was evident "What took you so long Davis. Mimi's flight has already arrived and we don't want her to think we abandoned her!"

Ken rushed forward to save his cowering best friend. "It's alright Yolei, he's here now. Come on, we should probably go and wait by the gate."

"Right, let's go everyone." Tai exclaimed pointing towards the other side of the terminal.

"He seems oddly excited" Izzy noted to Joe. Joe merely nodded and followed their leader.

The whole group set off in that direction when Cory suddenly looked up and asked, "Hey Davis, what happened to the flowers."

"What flowers?"

"The flowers for Mimi that you were carrying." The whole group had pitched in to buy flowers for Mimi as a welcome present. Sora had picked the finest and pinkest flowers that her mother's shop sold. Now, it seemed that Davis had misplaced them.

"Um…I.. ah…left them back at the information desk." Davis said sweat dropping. The other younger Digi-destined immediately tried to hold back a raging and furious Yolei from attacking as Davis ran across the building leaving Joe coughing at the dust he left behind and Matt and Tai laughing on the floor.

The gang, minus Davis who was still looking for the flowers, arrived at the gate a few minutes later to see most of the passengers were already there greeting family. They looked around for familiar pink hair but came up empty. "There's no sign of pink in this area. Unless you count that little girls toy pony." Izzy pointed out.

Sora stepped in reminding them, "Mimi doesn't have pink hair anymore remember. She changed it back to her natural color."

"Oh ya!" the rest of the group replied. Yolei and Sora stepped away to get a better look.

As some of the crowd cleared up Yolei noticed a girl her age with straight blond hair and fancy clothes talking to someone with honey colored hair. "Sora, look" Yolei screamed as she grabbed the elder girl and pointed to the older honey-colored-hair girl she saw "that's Mimi."

Sora and Yolei both took off at lightning speed towards their long-time friend "Mimi, MIMI." Sora cried trying to be heard over Yolei's zealous screams.

Yolei ran waving out to her friend shrieking out "HEY MIMI, MIMI OVER HERE!" Mimi smiled brightly when she heard the screams and waved to her friends. The three friends joyfully hugged each other as the boys and Kari jogged up to say hi.

Mimi squealed as she saw that all her friends were here and launched herself in their arms. She enthusiastically hugged every one before turning to introduce the blonde girl she was speaking with before. "Guys I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine who sat with me on the plane trip here. This is…"

She was interrupted by Tai and TK who recognized her and exclaimed "CATHERINE."

The girl looked up with wide eyes as she realized whom the two boys were. "TAI! TK! It is so good to see the both of you." she said in a strong French accent as she hugged them both. She failed to see the scowl on Kari's face as she hugged TK.

The rest of the Digi-destined looked from the two boys to Catherine as Ken asked, "How do you know each other?"

Tai and TK looked at each other and took turns in explaining. "It was during the time we went to Paris,"

"She was one of the Digi-destined of France."

"Ya, and she and her digimon were captured by the Mamemon brothers,"

"and then we saved her"

"Actually it was more like Grandpa saved her and we helped,"

"Right, but we helped a lot." The other got the jist of it.

Mimi turned to her new friend and asked "Catherine, how come you never told me you were a Digi-destined?"

"I am sorry Mimi, but you never asked." Mimi sweat dropped as she realized that the girl was a lot like herself when she was a young Digi-destined.

Sora turned to Catherine. "Um…so Catherine what brings you to Odaiba?"

Catherine turned to the older girl and smiled. "My father is the new ambassador of France to Japan. He was promoted at the embassy and they sent us here. We were in transit in New York. That was where Mimi and I met."

Mimi took over from there. "Catherine came with her father and mother. They plan on enrolling her in your high school." She said pointing towards the younger Digi-destined.

"Cool!" TK and Cory replied as they smiled at the pretty girl. Kari glared more as Yolei joined her.

Ken kept to himself realizing that Yolei was glaring at him. 'We need an ice-breaker to relieve the tension.' He thought 'I wonder where…' His thoughts were interrupted by a loud yell. "HEY GUYS! I found the flowers." Davis ran up to the group waving a bouquet. 'Speak of the devil.' Ken thought with a smirk.

Davis ran up to the group who had turned to him. After finally finding the flowers abandoned near the information desk, he quickly made sure that they were in good condition before rushing back. He knew that Sora would have a fit if her perfectly arranged bouquet was damaged in any way. As he made his way up to the rest of the group he recognized Mimi.

As he came to say hello his eye caught a hold of someone new in the group. He skidded to a halt as he took in the new girl. She had soft blond hair that fell down to her back. Her eyes glimmered and sparkled as she smiled at him. He vaguely heard Mimi say hi to him as floated over to this new beauty. For some reason he stretched out his hand and presented the flowers to her. "These are for you" he said with an odd look on his face as the new girl giggled.

Suddenly the flowers were taken from his grasp and used to smack his head. "You moron! These are from all of us to Mimi." She presented Mimi with the flowers and smiled before turning back to yell at Davis. Yolei chased Davis round in circles as Ken tried to calm them both down. The rest of the girl laughed and giggled and talked about the trip as the guys went to grab Mimi's luggage. Kari took in the group moment and suddenly wished she had her camera with her.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I realize that my change in age difference is a stray from the canon and has made this story slightly AU. So I have decided to keep the age difference the same as it was in the series. Please ignore the note on the first chapter.

**Ai Ishida**: I put Catherine there for a minor reason; she might pop up from time to time. I hope you still like this story even though it features a bit of Catherine.

**theladyknight**: Thanks for the advice! I will be careful from now on. I did not intend to bash on Davis. He is a great leader and the team would be in more trouble with out him then with him around.

I apologize if I have offended anyone with my Davis bit. The reason that Catherine and Mimi don't know each other is because there were so many people during Malomyotismon's rampage, that the odds of them meeting and remembering each other are slim. The series also doesn't say what happens directly after Oikawa dies to save the Digital world. (read theladyknight's 'Rediscovering Destiny' for a great story following this event.) So I made it so they never met.

Many thanks to **Ballet Kitty**, **Frodo007**, **genbo**, **JyouraKoumi**, and **naughty'Nnice**

* * *

"I can't seem to translate the full prophecy." Gennai said to no one in particular. "Let's see… 'The chosen children will war against an old foe. Courage, Friendship, Love, Knowledge, Sincerity, Reliability, Hope and Light must unite against the new coming darkness. And on the last day, the Guardians of the Harmony will be all that stands in the way of the evil reborn.'" 

Gennai sighed and wiped at his forehead. He looked at the candle burning on his table and took in the papers strewn around the rest of the room. "I have to complete the prophecy. We don't know how much time we have left."

* * *

Mr. and Mrs. Tachikawa listened carefully as Izzy and Joe explained the idea to them. "I don't know boys, we did sleep on the flight over and are well rested but Mimi might want to go straight home." Mr. Tachikawa said hesitantly. 

His wife frowned and crossed her arms, "Oh come now dear, and when has Mimi ever said no to a shopping trip?" She turned to the boys and smiled. "I think it's a magnificent idea. I'll get started on cooking some snacks when we get home."

"That won't be necessary Mrs. Tachikawa," Joe interrupted "We already have many snacks in the car." Mrs. Tachikawa smiled at him and continued to ramble about the food she could whip up in fifteen minutes.

Her husband smiled lightly and placed his hands on Joe. "Once she gets started on food there's no stopping her. Better put your snacks away because she's gonna want to make an entire dinner out of it."

A few meters away, the girls were talking to Mimi about America. "Don't you miss all the excitement of living in New York, Mimi?" Yolei asked as imagined the tall building and bright lights.

"To be honest Yolei, its always felt like Odaiba was my home and I was just on a long vacation." Mimi replied with a smile.

"What about Michel?" Kari asked giggling. "Didn't he make it feel more like home?"

Mimi laughed along, "No, Michel and I were just friends. He's a Digi-destined so that meant that I could relate to him."

Yolei stared off starry-eyed as she mentioned, "Any place Michel is would make me feel like home."

At this point in the conversation Sora stepped in and whispered in her younger friend's ear. "Make sure Ken doesn't hear about that or else he might go in to a jealous fit." Yolei turned away blushing. Sora then turned to Mimi and told her, "You know this will always be home for everyone and whatever happens, you have a home with us."

Mimi smiled genuinely at her best friends sweet words. "I know." she said softly.

Sora continued, "So how about we get you really used to the place and go shopping." The grin she got in return was blinding. Mimi grabbed a hold of all their hands, quite a feat considering that there were three pairs of hands, and ran to her parents.

"Daddy," she said in the sweetest voice she could think of, "Can I please go shopping with the girls?"

Strangely enough, her father smiled and immediately withdrew his wallet. He pulled out a couple American dollar bills and pressed them into his daughters waiting hands as he said, "Of course dear, take the girls out and rediscover some of your old hangouts. I'm sure young Mr. Kido wouldn't mind dropping you off." Joe smiled and nodded his head.

If Mimi had stopped to think about the situation, she would have realized that her father never gives her money this willingly and Joe seemed to have agreed without anyone asking him. But the thought of exploring the mall with her friends seemed to push those questions out of the way. As she, Sora, Kari and Yolei piled into Joe's car at break-neck speed, Mrs. Tachikawa whispered to her husband, "That went well."

* * *

Tai, Davis and Ken were busy dumping Mimi's pink luggage into Tai car when they saw that Mimi and the girls take off with Joe. "Hey Matt, the girls just left in Joe's car. Should we head off to Mimi's house to start on the party?" 

Matt looked up after grabbing a large suitcase that TK had handed him. He looked at the extensive amount of luggage that Mimi and her mother had brought along and turned to Tai. "With all of this luggage; we'll probably still be here for a while."

"How did they allow this entire luggage on the plane?" Cody inquired as he piled some of the smaller suitcases into the backseat of Matt's car.

"I think the company that Mimi's father works for paid for the extra luggage costs." Izzy said returning after his talk with Mr. and Mrs. Tachikawa.

'Must have been a heck of a lot considering that this is Mimi and her mother we are talking about.' TK thought with a smirk.

Mr. Tachikawa then stepped up to the Tai and thanked him "I really appreciate all the help you boys are offering. It was nice of you to volunteer to help pick us up."

"It's a pleasure, sir." Tai replied smiling "Any thing for an old friend like Mimi."

"You're very sweet Tai. But tell me, what exactly are you planning on serving at the party?" Mimi's mother had just stepped in with a smile and was now in full party-planning mode.

Davis, anxious to prove himself worthy of party-planning material, butted in on the conversation. "It's going to be great Mrs. Tachikawa. Just you wait and see. We are going to have balloons and cake and soda and…"

"Oh my, soda! I don't like carbonated drinks, too gassy." Mrs. Tachikawa said in disgust.

"That's ok ma'am. We also have water and juices." Ken looked up at this. "Yes, Yolei made sure to supply us with a variety of drinks. She wanted to make sure that everyone was happy."

"That was kind of her" she replied with a sigh of relief.

Davis continued with his ramblings "We also have many types of food. Sweet, sour, sweet and sour, sweet and not so sour, sour but not…so…" He suddenly stopped counting them off his fingers and stared out. Ken turned his head to see what he was staring at. 'Ah,' he thought when he finally noticed what his best friend was looking at 'it seems that Kari is not the only person on Davis' mind.'

Tai looked up at Ken with a confused look and asked, "What's up with him?" Ken merely looked in the direction Davis was staring at. "Ah, someone's got a crush on Catherine." Tai teased his younger friend.

Davis, who couldn't seem to remove his eyes from the cute, young French Digi-destined suddenly snapped to attention. "Huh…no, it's not like that. I was…uh…looking for the car! Ya, the car."

Tai merely laughed and told Davis, "If you didn't know where the car was, the where did you put all the luggage?" Davis couldn't come up with a good excuse after that. Tai smiled at his protégé, "That's alright Davis, we still love ya."

Cody walked up to Tai who seemed to be laughing something or the other. 'Probably something that Davis did.' The youngest Digi-destined surmised. He stepped up to Tai and asked "Hey Tai, Izzy says we have a problem." Tai immediately looked up and stopped laughing. Davis and Ken joined him in asking what was wrong. "Izzy says that we won't be able to fit every one in the cars. There are just too many bags."

"Oh my. I'm sorry," Mrs. Tachikawa said "I didn't mean to bring so much luggage. I guess Mimi and I just got carried away."

"Not to worry Mrs. Tachikawa, we'll figure a way around it." Cody assured her ever optimistically. Tai, Davis, Ken and Cody then walked over to Matt, TK and Izzy who were still loading suitcases into Matt's car.

"Hey Izzy," Davis yelled as he ran up to them, "Cody say that there is a problem." The red headed boy looked up and placed the heavy suitcase that he was trying to lift down. The suitcase tipped over from the sudden movement and landed directly on Izzy's foot.

As the young computer genius yelped and jumped up and down, TK and Matt went over to steady him. "You okay, Izzy?" TK asked.

"Yes, I'll be fine." Izzy replied, "Anyway, back to our problem. It seems that we won't be able to fit everyone and the luggage into the cars."

"You don't need to fit everyone in the car. I can take the bus." Ken offered.

"As helpful as that is, I still don't think that every thing will fit."

"Well Mimi's parents have to come, they have the keys to the house and this is all their luggage." Tai stated.

"Right, and Tai and I are the only ones here who can drive." Matt added.

Cody counted off his fingers. "That leaves Izzy, Ken, Davis, TK and me."

"We could probably fit Mimi's parents with one other person in Tai's car, and then put all the left over luggage and another person with Matt's car." Izzy said as he calculated the permutations.

"Fine then, Davis, Ken and I will take the bus once we get directions and we'll meet you there." TK volunteered.

"Sounds fine to me."

"Yeah, sure." The other two agreed.

"Okay then, I'll ride with Mr. and Mrs. Tachikawa in Tai's car, and Cody and Matt can take his car with the extra luggage." Izzy said finalizing their plans.

"Fine, but someone's going to have to help Cody and I load the rest of these bags." Matt said while surveying the number of suitcases still left.

After all the belongings were stuffed into the elder blonde's car, Matt and Cody took of behind Tai's car. This left TK, Ken and Davis waiting for the bus. As TK and Ken were chatting about the party Davis walked along silently. Ken noticed this and asked him, "Hey, what's wrong Davis?"

Davis looked up from his dream-like state and whispered. "I have a weird feeling. Something doesn't feel right."

* * *

"Let's try this store next!" The young girl repeated the words for the seventeenth time this day. Behind her a red head her age and two younger girls, a brunette and a lilac-haired girl trotted behind at a slow pace. While they each carried eight bags, half of which belonged to their hyper and energetic friend, their companion carried an astounding twelve bags and still wanted to continue shopping. 

"Mimi," Sora said exhausted "can we stop now. We've seen every store in the mall."

Mimi looked up and observed that she was the only one who wasn't gasping for breath. 'I guess the girls have gotten soft while I was away.' she thought smiling. "Ok, we can take a small break. Let's stop at the food court and I'll buy you all ice cream."

Yolei looked up immediately, "NO, ice cream will spoil your appetite and we can't have that." She quickly slapped a hand across her mouth, worried that she had revealed too much information. Mimi however just looked confused.

Sora got up and laughed nervously, "Ha ha… ha…um what Yolei means is that we should waste time with ice cream when we could be shopping."

"But I thought that you girls wanted a break to rest."

Kari rose to the occasion and smiled at her older friend. She twirled around and said "See, all rested up. Now let's go shopping!"

Mimi was faced with an offer she couldn't refuse and so she picked up her shopping bags, grabbed her friends' hands and sped off in search of the next perfect store. 'The things we do to keep her happy' Sora thought while other shoppers flew past her.

* * *

"You know, you guys didn't have to help me carry all this stuff home." Mimi said as he walked up to the front door to her house. 

"It's no trouble Meems, plus we just want to spend more time catching up." Yolei said. She was quite happy how the plan was going. A few minutes ago Matt had called Sora on her cell and told her that the house was 'decked out in style.' They then took a taxi back to Mimi's place to drop off Mimi and her stuff while Sora, Kari and Yolei would take the cab home.

Mimi pulled out the key that her father had given her earlier and placed it in the keyhole. As she swung open the door and reached for the lights she wondered out loud, "That's weird, the house shouldn't be in darknes…"

"SURPRISE!"

Her closest friends jumped out from all awkward places. Matt and Tai leaped from under the table. TK, Davis and Ken stood up from their hiding place behind the couch. Cody hopped up from behind a chair, Izzy stepped away from the curtain he was behind and Joe popped his head from behind the front door.

Mimi blinked away the initial moments of shock as she turned towards the girls. "How…what… when…"

Sora smiled and said "Surprise!" She then stepped up to her best friend and hugged her as she tearfully said "Welcome back home Meems, we've missed you." Mimi smiled and opened her arms as Kari and Yolei joined in the hug.

"It's good to have you back Mimi."

"Ya, don't ever leave again."

Mimi laughed at the last comment as tears of joy trailed down her face. She stepped away and looked at her other friends that had stepped away from their hiding places and were smiling at the group hug. Joe, the closest to her opened up his arms as Mimi hugged him tightly. He welcomed her back and stepped away allowing the other guys to give her a hug and wish her.

After she received hugs from everyone, and extra hugs from Yolei who was excited to finally spend time with the person she looked up to, Mimi noticed that her parents were standing by what seemed to be the kitchen of their new house. She walked up to them with tears still staining her face and a big grin that anyone would have found blinding and asked them, "Did you know about this?"

Her mother smiled at her and answered "We found out at the airport. Everything was already planned out by Sora."

Mimi turned to look at all the decorations that hung on all the walls. Balloons floated up to the top as streamers fell all over the place. Nearby was a table filled with an assortment of food and drinks. She turned to everyone and said, "Let's party!"

* * *

"You didn't really say that!" 

"I'm telling you Matt, I told her the assignment got lost in my vast expanse of hair care products and she believed me."

"Considering that we're talking about **your** hair Tai, I might find that believable."

"I agree with Joe, you are easy to spot in a crowd with that on your head."

Matt and Joe laughed at the situation Tai placed himself in. It was always amusing to see the leader of the elder Digi-destined try to defend his hairstyle.

Around the rest of the house there was laughter and mirth. Davis and TK were arguing about which was the more popular sport, basketball or football. Izzy was conversing with Mimi's dad about the use of computers in the world of business and finance.

On the other side of the room Ken was being dragged into a Yolei and Cody's discussion on methods of travel. However, the most amount of gaiety and laughter came from three girls sitting on the couch reliving the good old days.

"Oh, do you remember when Joe first found his crest. He was so stunned that he found it in a soccer goal of all places." Mimi laughed out.

"I miss those old days. It was more of an adventure. We were just… more into it." Kari said with a sigh.

"I know the feeling." Sora replied, staring off. She was about to say something when she was interrupted by Mrs. Tachikawa who had entered the room with a few adults. Davis recognized them as his parents and Cody's grandfather.

"Kids, your parents are here to pick you up." Mrs. Tachikawa explained.

Davis looked at his watch, "Wow, it got late pretty quickly."

"Alrighty then," Tai said standing up "Who's riding with me."

Izzy quickly computed the best permutations and stated "TK and Yolei live in the same building as Cody, so it's easier if they take one car. Davis can go with his parents, and Ken can…" He was interrupted by the other genius in the group.

"Actually Izzy, I already told my parents that I would be staying at Davis' house. We made plans yesterday."

"Okay, then. We'll do that and Sora can go with Tai and Kari since she live a few blocks away, while I go with Matt."

"Sounds good to me"

"Ya fine."

"I'm good."

Sora turned towards Mimi and gave her best friend a hug. "Bye Meems. I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

Mimi smiled and told her "Definitely." Kari and Yolei then stepped up and hugged Mimi. As they gave way to the others, Mimi noticed that Sora and Matt only hugged each other goodbye. 'That's odd,' she thought 'I figured that they would have at least given each other a goodnight kiss.'

She was about to ask TK that when Davis bounded up to her and said with open arms, "My turn for a hug!" Mimi gladly obliged with a smile.

* * *

"Um, Matt?" 

"Yea Izzy?" Matt replied looking over at his friend. They had just bid their friends goodnight and he was now driving Izzy home. "You okay there, Iz?"

Izzy looked up at the boy driving and asked, "Can I ask you a question?"

Matt raised an eyebrow. Normally the roles were reversed and he would be the one seeking answers from the computer genius. "Sure Izzy, ask away."

Izzy looked Matt in the eye and then looked up at the stoplight that they were stuck at. 'Still red. Good that gives me time to ask him.' Once more he looked up at Matt who was now interested on what the genius was debating about. "Matt can I ask you about your relationship with Sora?"

This through the blonde off. Relationship advice was the last thing that he expected from Izzy. 'Tai or TK asking would be understandable. Even Davis and Ken made sense. Possibly even Joe. No wait, scratch that. Joe asking for dating advice is just as weird as Izzy asking.' "Ah, Iz are you asking me for dating advice."

Izzy's face turned a crimson that rivaled the color of his hair. "How do you know when you've found the right person, the one you want to build a relationship with?"

Matt turned his head and stared out of the window as he thought about the question. "I guess it's just about being around that one person who makes you feel special, makes you smile when she's around. You can't stop looking in her eyes and you never want to let go of her hand. You…"

"Ah Matt?" "Huh?" Matt snapped out of his trance and looked at Izzy who was pointing out to the traffic signal. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that the light had turned green. Matt looked ahead and drove towards Izzy's house. His friend just looked at him, smiled and said, "You know, you ramble when you're talking about Sora."

"Shut it Izzy!"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I realize that it's been a while since I updated. I'm sorry it's been so long. I want to thank everyone who stood by me and continue to read and review my fanfic.

**Ai Ishida, Lady Azura**: The Matt and Izzy conversation at the end is one of my favorite scenes. I just think that, while Izzy seems more comfortable with Tai, he would rather ask Matt for relationship advice as he is in a relationship.

**Kat**: Thank you for your support. It means a lot to author when their fan stands by them. It means a lot for me.

**theladyknight**: I am glad that you liked the whole party planning and shopping scene. The whole Matt and Sora thing might make sense later. Btw, I wanted Davis to have someone besides Kari to shower his affection. A sad Davis seems depressing to me because I like his character. So I introduced Catherine, someone to divert Davis' attention. Thanks for the advice!

Many thanks to **Ballet Kitty** and **Frodo007.

* * *

**

'_Gennai? Gennai! Where are you?'_

Gennai snapped awake immediately. He had fallen asleep looking over his notes. He now looked over his surroundings trying to find the foreign voice he heard. 'Why does it sound so… familiar?' He tried to rub the sleep from his tired, sleep-deprived eyes and looked around again.

'_GENNAI! Answer me if your there!'_

"Az…Azulongmon? Is that you?"

_'Gennai, I don't have much time. The other Harmonious ones and I are in trouble. The whole Digital world hovers on the brink of destuction once more. But this time the darkness that threatens it is unlike any thing that we have seen before.'_

Gennai looked down at the notes that littered his table. He turned his head to the few, random symbols that covered the walls around him and realized what was happening. "It's the prophecy isn't it? It is about to come to pass."

_'Yes. Now listen closely as I tell you what will be needed…'

* * *

_

Davis finished tying his soccer boots and stood up. He surveyed the pitch with all his teammates on it. The goalie was stretching, a few players were doing laps while a couple of others had paired off and were practicing passes. He turned to his left to see the coach shouting at someone or the other, telling them that their passes were off or, that they weren't kicking with their heel.

Davis continued to witness what was going on around him when the coach suddenly yelled at him, "Motomiya, what are you waiting for? Go run some laps."

Davis smiled and started off running around the pitch. 'Looks like it's going to be another one of those days.' He thought, not realizing that a Digi-destined never get the luxury of 'one-of-those-days'.

* * *

Izzy was enjoying his day. It started out with a nice breakfast, and then he downloaded some new programs for his computer while finishing off some homework. He then implemented accessory programs to make his laptop work with the new programs on his desktop PC. Now, he was currently enjoying a rice ball while playing a game on the Internet. 'Today is turning out to be a great day' he thought to himself. He effortlessly tapped his fingers on couple of random buttons and watched, as his opponent was defeated. Smiling, the young genius took another bite of his rice ball finishing it. Being careful not to dirty his computer, Izzy wiped his hands and dusted himself off.

A few minutes later, Izzy was working on yet another program when he got the sudden urge to go to the bathroom. Standing up, he exited all programs but left the computer still on. Upon his return he noticed something awry. "Hold on," he said to himself "I'm sure I closed all programs." On the screen, Izzy could make out that a file was activated. Opening it he recognized it as an e-mail message. Clicking open the message his eyes scanned the e-mail as he whispered out loud "Prodigious."

* * *

"And that was when he spilled the grape juice on the CEO's lap"

TK burst out laughing. He held his stomach and giggled, chuckled and tittered with delight. Matt, who had just returned from the restroom shook his head but still smiled lightly. 'I'm glad that Teeks enjoys these rendezvous with dad.' Every one or two weeks TK and Matt would meet up with their father for lunch at a little café near the T.V. studio that Malcolm Ishida worked at. Today, lunch consisted of a variety of sushi, chicken wings and ice cream. _"Mum will flip when she finds out what you're feeding me."_ TK would always say just after they had ordered.

Matt took his seat and asked, "I take it you told him about the grape juice incident at last weeks big press conference?" TK, still laughing, wiped a tear from his eye and nodded while trying to refrain from thinking about the colorful image.

"I'm telling you Matt, the shades of color that the CEO's face turned rivaled that of the juice." His father told the eldest blonde.

"Ok dad, I believe you, but I think we should change the subject before TK bursts."

Soon TK had sobered down and was telling them about his school and work. "Mum was so angry when they wouldn't print her article that she yelled _'If you don't print it then I am going to write the next fifty articles on the garbage disposal system.'_ And the editor…"

Before he could explain why this little peace of info was so important, his dad interrupted him. "Oh right, the editor hates to read about the garbage disposal system because his father-in-law owns it."

TK was shocked to see that his father already knew this so he asked "Yeah, but how did you know?"

Malcolm Ishida's eyes widened a bit but he calmly said "Oh, ahh… your mother told me about it the last time I talked to her."

Matt raised an eyebrow at the reply but then decided to ignore it. 'Odd, I've never heard mum call dad while I was at home. Hmm… Must be nothing.'

"Um, so what else has been going on with you TK?" Their father asked "I know that Matt is seeing Sora, but what about you?" The colors that his little brother turned would have Matt laughing for the next few days. As TK stuttered through his situation Matt's cell sprung to life playing one of his catchy songs. "Saved by the cell." TK muttered. Malcolm Ishida quizzed his eldest son about the ring tone. "Hey, isn't that one of your songs?"

"Ya," came the reply "Izzy recorded the tune and programmed it into my cell as a present when we finished our album." He stood up and stepped away from the table hoping that he could get a little privacy if it was Sora calling. 'Plus I don't want dad asking me embarrassing questions about my relationship with Sora.'

As Matt stepped away, TK sighed with relief and went back to sipping his soda before he was barraged with a second round of questions. He heard Matt answer his phone and ask who it was. He barley registered Matt say Izzy's name. It was when Matt gasped and yelled _"WHAT!"_, that he turned his head and looked at his brother. He stared right at Matt's face and involuntarily widened his eyes. "Oh man, I know that look."

* * *

With a boy like Tai in the Kamiya household, things tended to get noisy.

"TAI, WILL YOU TURN THAT RACKET OFF!" Mrs. Kamiya screamed over the din of the music.

Kari looked up from her place at the table. She was trying to study for one of her upcoming tests but the atmosphere was never right with a brother like Tai around. 'Oh forget it, I'm never going to be able to study for my history paper like this.' She thought while slamming the book closed and collecting all her reading material. She looked into Tai's room to ask when he would be done. When he had been accepted into college their parents decided to let Tai have his own room. They moved all the stuff out of Mr. Kamiya's old study/computer room and made Tai's 'new paradise' as the eldest child had dubbed it. Kari didn't mind; after all it meant that she got their old room all to herself.

"When are you going to be done? I have a test I have to study for and I can't do that if you keep turning up the volume on your stereo." She said interrupting the older boy's air guitar.

Tai looked up and turned down the music a little bit. "Huh?"

"I **said**, 'When are you going to be done?'" Kari repeated.

Tai gave his sister the 'what makes you think I am playing it too loud' look. "Come on Kari, I just…" He stopped suddenly when he heard the phone ring. It rang once, twice, and then half way through the third ring his mother picked up. Tai shook his head and turned to his sister. "I just want to enjoy having my own room for a whi…"

"Tai, phone for you." came his mother's voice. "It's Izzy."

Tai huffed and pushed the power switch on his radio off. "Fine, you can study now. Happy?" he said as his little sister stuck her tongue out and left for her own room.

Tai picked up the phone in his room and lay on his bed. "Hey Iz. What's up?"

"_Tai, you'll never believe what happened. Oh, and before you ask, don't worry. I called Matt about this before you."_

"Hey," Tai said sitting up quickly "Why did you call Matt before me?"

"_His name comes up before yours on my cell phonebook."_

"And why is his name so high on your priority phonebook?"

"_Tai,"_ came the exasperated reply _"phonebooks are alphabetical."_

"Oh yeah" the Kamiya boy realized giving himself a slap on the head.

"_Listen Tai, I got an e-mail today."_

"Big deal Izzy, you work with computers. An e-mail shouldn't be new to you."

"_Tai, the e-mail was from Gennai. It's about the digiworld."_

For the first time the entire day, Tai Kamiya was completely silent.

* * *

"Gennai said what!" the tall blue haired boy yelled. Joe came to his college with the directive to work on a lab project that he received. A little work on the computer, some sketches and then he would be done for the day. He was on the computer when his cell phone lit up. Since it was the weekend and no one was around, Joe decided to answer it while in the lab. The call, however, tore his attention from the work.

"_Gennai's e-mail said that the digital world is in serious trouble. And whatever it is, it's got him scared, real scared."_

"So then, what can we do? Shouldn't this be a job for TK, Kari, Davis and the others?"

"_Gennai says that everyone will be needed."_

"Okay, so what do you need me to do?"

"_I got Matt picking up TK, Yolei and Cody. Tai's bringing Sora, and Kari. That leaves Ken, Davis and Mimi."_ The boy genius continued on _"I can call Davis and Mimi and have the run over here. So that leaves Ken…"_

"who's closest to me. That's fine I can pick him up on my way there." Joe interrupted. He paused for a second before asking, "Do you think we might need to go to the digiworld?"

"_There's a strong chance considering the data I received from Gennai."_

"Hmm, in that case I better bring my first aid bag. Better safe then sorry." Izzy laughed at that.

"_Same ol' Joe"_ Joe smiled at this before saying goodbye and hanging up.

He shut off his computer before adjusting his glasses. In one quick sweep he cleared all his files and charts off the table and pushed them in to his bag. 'I guess I'll have to finish this project another time.'

* * *

Matt turned the last corner and drove into the closest parking space. The brakes screeched and the sound of seats unbuckling was heard. The passenger door opened up and TK leaped out to open the door for Cody and Yolei, the latter, who was yelling at Matt for driving so fast, stepped out with a huff.

"We were getting late, Yolei. Gennai said that it was important and we are already the last here." Matt replied to her screams.

Cody noticed Joe's SUV and Tai's car in the parking lot. Upon further inspection he noticed that there were tire burn marks on the ground where Tai had parked. 'Looks like Tai got here in a hurry too.' Cody thought.

"Hey guys, hurry up. You're the last ones here." All four looked up to see Davis waving at them he motioned them inside before racing up himself.

"Man," TK cried, "I can't believe that we're the last."

Matt just glared at Yolei who turned around and muttered "At least he got us here in one piece." before storming off.

Cody and TK started off after her, and Matt was about to do the same before he was struck with a strange but familiar feeling. He turned back to his car and unlocked the door. Reaching across to the glove compartment, he pulled out a familiar item that gleamed in the sunlight like an old friend. And so pocketing his harmonica, Matt ran towards Izzy's apartment.

* * *

Tai tapped his foot impatiently as he looked to the stairs. TK, Yolei and Cody had already entered the apartment and were asking around what was happening. Tai had decided to wait for Matt, the last person left. Footsteps diverted his attention as Matt's figure raced up the stairs to greet him. "What took you so long. You're late." He screeched at Matt.

"Sorry, had to turn back to pick up Cody and Yolei. Yolei was at her shop so we had to go there to pick her up. That's why we got caught up."

"Fine, but why were you at your car so long?"

"Had to pick up something." Matt answered cryptically before entering the apartment.

Tai raised and eyebrow and followed him in. The apartment was abuzz with activity. Mimi, Sora and Kari were chatting with Joe and TK. Yolei was sitting on the couch with Ken, Cody and Davis, all of who were arguing about the current digiworld problem. Izzy though was still nowhere to be seen.

Matt voiced his thoughts as he asked, "Hey, Where is Izzy?"

"He's probably still getting set up." Tai said turning to his best friend.

Matt looked confused at this and questioned, "What do you mean 'He's still getting set up.'"

This time the answer came from his left as Sora stepped up to him. "We don't know, all Izzy said was that we should wait for everyone to get here while he set up in his room."

Matt was going to ask another question when Mrs. Izumi stepped out of the kitchen and announced "RICE BALLS!" Mrs. Izumi was famous among the Digi-destined for her rice balls.

"Bring them in here mum." Izzy's voice was heard from beyond his closed door. "You guys can come in now. Everything is ready."

Davis was the first one in as he said out loud, "Jeeze Izzy, what took you so long. Did you have to clean up your room or something?" The red head stared down Davis as he told him that his room was always spotless.

Izzy's mother then stepped in and placed the rice balls on a table she smiled at her son and said "Call if you need anything sweetie." She then proceeded to step back out. As the others filed into the room they noticed that Izzy had arranged his computer and laptop in a familiar order.

"Um Izzy, isn't that the set up needed to transfer our digimon into this world?" TK asked once he recognized the meticulous order that everything was in. Cables and wires connected each piece of equipment. Both computer screens were facing each other and were turned on. Plugged into the wall socket was an extension that gave power to the various equipment.

Izzy had heard TK's question but he did not bother to answer. He simply smiled and started up a program on each computer. The monitors flashed brightly as the whole room seemed to glow with this new show of light and power. Then, in between the laptop and the desk computer, five figures began to take shape. One was human-sized, as tall as an adult male. The other four were shorter, and came indifferent shapes and sizes. Finally as the light dimmed, Gennai and four digimon stood before them.

* * *

"Master, he has gotten through."

"_**I see. And what of the digimon? Did they get through?"**_

"No, we were able to capture the main ones, but the less experienced four were able to escape us. The other eight seemed to be protecting them."

"_**It matters not. Gates and portals between here and the human world are beginning to tremble and moan under the pressure. Soon they will shatter and our forces can trample over their soil. Soon I shall have the hearts of the Digi-destined in my hands, and I will crush them."

* * *

**_

There, in the middle of Izzy's room, stood Gennai. His white robe was muddy and torn in places. His hair was scruffy and his eyes showed that he had not gotten much sleep. There was a scrape on his left cheek and a little blood drizzled down his face. To his side were the digimon. Armadillomon stood by Gennai's leg; his carapace was bruised and red. Next to him was Hawkmon, holding one of his wings. A few feathers seemed painfully out of shape. To Gennai's other side was Veemon and Wormmon. Veemon seemed to have a black eye and his right leg was swollen and red. Wormmon was not without damage either. There were numerous scrapes and cuts running down his body.

For a few seconds there was silence amongst the Digi-destined, and then yells filled the room.

"GENNAI!"

"Wormmon!"

"Ken!"

"Armadillomon!"

"Cody!"

"Hawkmon!"

"Yolei!"

"Veemon!"

"Davish!"

"What happened?"

"Are you all right?"

"Where are …"

"Guys, GUYS!" Gennai's voice was the loudest amongst the din. "I'll explain everything, but first," He handed a CD to Izzy and asked, "Izzy, do you mind loading this while I tell my tale. It will take a while to load and should be done as soon as possible." Izzy gave a quick nod and grabbed the disk. He knew from experience that Gennai's programs were large and complex; any downloading should be started now.

Gennai then took a moment to take a deep breath and collect himself. A quick glance showed that the digimon had leaped into their partner's arms and everyone else was staring at him expectantly. "Joe, would you mind taking a look at the digimon's injuries." The blue haired boy's eyes widened as he was addressed directly. He nodded and dropped the heavy bag that he was carrying. From it he pulled out a few tubes of antiseptic creams and a couple of gauzes. He turned to Yolei and handed her a splint and some tape. Yolei wordlessly accepted it and started tending to Hawkmon.

Gennai watched the careful caresses the digimon received. He watched as Joe applied cream to Veemon's swollen leg while Davis watched eagerly. He watched as Cody and Ken comforted their own digimon by simply placing a hand on them and smiling tearfully. He saw Mimi clasp her hands tightly and then walk to Yolei to help. He saw Izzy initiate the loading process on his desk computer. He saw Kari unconsciously drift to TK's side and Sora grasp Matt's hand in shock. He noticed Tai's keen eyes watching him, waiting for answers. They were all still Digi-destined, they had not forgotten and Gennai knew that he could now count on them to be strong and succeed in the coming days ahead.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I realize that it's been a while since I updated. I'm sorry it's been so long. I want to thank everyone who stood by me and continue to read and review my fanfic.

**Ai Ishida**: Gennai merely told Izzy to call the others and get them together. He also informed him that there was trouble in the digital world and to prepare to open a portal at a certain time for him to arrive. The rest of what you might want to know will be explained in this chapter.

**Ballet Kitty**: You will find out who they are much later. There affiliation though will be known sooner.

**Cloaked Fox**:I agree, the cliché is a bit painful but it felt right at the time and I have no regrets about it.I want to try to explain the whole Catherine issue. In the series, they never said what happened immediately after Malomyotismon's defeat. It is therefore completely plausible that all of the worlds Digi-destined were transported back to there homes. This would not have given the Japanese Digi-destined much time for introductions. And so, only Tai and TK have met Catherine. The others have merely heard stories of her that are currently, in this storyline, two years old. Why Catherine did not recognize Mimi, I can not give a completely valid answer as Mimi, being part of the original Digi-destined was in the 'inner circle' at the time of Malomyotismon's defeat, so she would have been seen. Maybe Catherine did not recognize her because Mimi changed her hair color, maybe because it has been two years since she has seen Mimi. Oh and BTW, Thank you for the compliment and constructive criticism, I will work on it.

Many thanks to **iLUVmichi, Genna, JyouraKoumi** and **Frodo007.

* * *

**

"_Gennai, you still haven't explained what is going on?"_

"_I know Tentomon. All I can tell you is the short version. Basically, one of your old enemies is going to rise up in power. The sheer force that he will wield is catastrophic. Azulongmon came to me yesterday and told me bits and pieces of what is going to happen."_

"_You saw Azulongmon?" asked the orange dinosaur by his feet. "Yes Agumon. But it was only in a vision. Azulongmon is trapped somewhere, somewhere terrifying." The cat at his heels perked up and asked, "He is trapped again? But I thought that the crests of Hope and Light freed him." Gennai turned to her. "They did Gatomom, but this new evil has trapped him yet again. The strength and power that we will need to defeat him will only come from the Digi-destined."_

_Further up the hill they were traversing was a small pile of boulders. On top of the pile was a small television. "That's the one. That one should take us directly to Izzy's home." Above him and the rest of the land-traversing digimon flew the bright pink Biyomon, the noble Hawkmon and the ever-vigilant Tentomon. Patamon flew behind them at a slower pace. As Gennai stopped to catch a quick breath he heard a noise in the group of trees to his left. Carefully monitoring them for activity, he and the other digimon failed to notice the shadow that dashed around behind them. "PETRIFIER" two blue beams shot out from behind them and struck Gatomon. The others turned around to see if she was all right, all they found was a statue of the digimon. "It's a Kokatorimon. He must have been sent to stop us." The other digimon stood fast and took aim at the large chicken-like digimon. Cries of their attacks were heard._

"_Pepper Breath"_

"_Boom Bubble"_

"_Spiral Twister"_

"_Blue Blaster"_

"_Beak Buzzsaw"_

"_Vee Headbutt"_

_The dust cleared away but Kokatorimon was still standing. Agumon took charge of the situation. "We need to confuse him, don't give him a chance to attack."_

"_We should take cover by those bushes first." Gabumon added while Palmon and Tentomon tried to move the now immobile Gatomon. They all headed towards a group of sparse bushes before Wormmon realized that some one was missing. Looking back he saw Gommamon crawling slower that the others. Being a sea mammal, Gommamon was swifter in water then on dry dirt. He was trying to drag himself towards the others but his flippers were not helping that much. Wormmon watched helplessly as Gommamon turned around to see Kokatorimon right behind him. The large bird smiled maniacally before freezing the helpless sea animal in a casing of stone. Armadillomon and Wormmon sprang to attack with Patamon and Gabumon following them. All their attacks were unleashed at the same time with a feel of vengeance_

_As they continued their assault another cry was heard "Petrifier." Red laser beams shot out from the woods to their left. From the darkness appeared a second Kokatorimon who was grinning. "Ha ha, we are the Kokatorimon twins. Our double 'Petrifier' attacks will leave you stone cold." He then stared at the now silent Gabumon who was frozen in granite._

_Gennai watched all of the events unfold and knew what he needed to do. "Everyone listen, we need to get Hawkmon, Wormmon, Veemon and Armadillomon to the digiport. Izzy is going to open it up soon." The four mentioned digimon were clueless to what was happening but the rest sprang to attention_

_Biyomon flew up to Hawkmon who was attacking the first Kokatorimon. "Hawkmon, you have to get out of here. Go with Gennai and the others to the digiport. I'll hold him off." Hawkmon stood aghast. How was Biyomon supposed to hold off one champion all by herself when all of them were having trouble taking out the two twins? The Kokatorimon took advantage of the situation and shot his attack at Hawkmon. His cry alerted Biyomon. She hurriedly pushed him out of the way of the incoming attack. A second later Biyomon, who was flapping her wings six feet in the air, fell on the ground, rock solid. "Biyomon!"_

_Tentomon quickly rushed to Hawkmon's aid. Aiming a 'Super Shocker' at one of the Kokatorimon's outstretched wings, he was able to stun it buying them some time. "Hawkmon, you have to go. Gennai and the others are depending on you." Hawkmon finally gave in and flew toward the digiport. He did not look back when the giant bird called out one more "Petrifier" and Tentomon's buzzing was heard no more._

_A bit uphill, Agumon and Veemon were arguing. After seeing Gabumon turn to stone, he tried to rush to the wolfish digimon's aid but was hindered by Agumon. Now after seeing Tentomon and Biyomon drop to the dirt he was enraged. Yet Agumon still did not let go. Veemon turned to the dinosaur and demanded, "Why don't we help them?"_

"_Listen Veemon," Agumon said looking squarely into his eyes "You and the other three might be our only chance. I need you to go with Gennai and make sure that Tai and the others are all right. Now go, I'll take care of these two." With that he rushed off into the fray firing one attack after the other._

_Gennai was at the television. He had opened up a side panel and was working on accessing a digiport. He heard someone rushing up to him and saw that it was Veemon. He then noticed that Hawkmon was to his left. The bird was trying everything to draw his attention away from the cold statues of his friends. A quick survey made Gennai realized something last minute. For this plan to work he needed Hawkmon, Veemon, Wormmon and Armadillomon. The latter two had not made it up the hill as yet. Armadillomon seemed to have been damaged in the fight and he was walking up the hill slowly. Wormmon was trying his best to keep up, but being a crawler by nature he was slower then Armadillomon. Gennai feared the worst as the second Kokatorimon stepped up closer to them. Then, in a flash, Palmon was right by their side. "Poison Ivy!" The attack caught the enemy digimon right in the eye. Hissing it turned away for a mere moment and Palmon reacted. Coiling her vine tendrils around Wormmon and Armadillomon she sent them flying up the hill towards Gennai. It was her final act of the battle. As Armadillomon turned to see what happened he saw to his horror a statue of Palmon, her vines still shrinking back to their original length were now frozen._

_Running towards the fallen digimon, Gennai managed to trip on a rock. He fell to the ground just as one of the Kokatorimon fired at him. The shot just missed him but the wise man managed to still tear his robes. He immediately got up and ran to Wormmon. Picking him up, he assisted Veemon in turning over Armadillomon who wound up on his back. As they turned to flee to the television that was now shifting into a portal, they saw a shadow looming over them. The Kokatorimon was still upset at the scratches that Palmon had afflicted on his eyes. He stood ready to fire on them. He smiled as he heard Agumon scream, the orange dinosaur had out lasted all the other miscreants but now no more. He placed his feet and opened his mouth to call out… "Boom Bubble!" An unseen force slammed into the Kokatorimon, lifting him off of his feet and onto a nearby rock. Patamon hovered behind his position glaring at his opponent. "Gennai, quickly get them out of here!" Gennai ran with the others to the portal. As they entered it they spun around to see what fate had befallen the flying mammal. Patamon flapped his ears as fast as he could, dodging left, flanking right. He fired 'Boom Bubble' after 'Boom Bubble' at the first Kokatorimon. The second one was now stirring from his fall. Suddenly he was caught with no place to escape to. All the four digimon heard as they passed to the other side were his faded words, "Tell TK that I…"_

---End Flashback---

Gennai ended history and sunk to the ground. All that running about the hill was exhausting. He seemed to have used up all his adrenaline and was now paying the price. 'I just hope that we can save the digimon. Their selfless sacrifice was inspiring and should convince the Digi-destined to help us.' He looked at the shocked faces of the people around him.

Joe had his eyes opened wide as he finished the last of the digimon's injuries. He stood up and then walked over to Gennai. Reaching into his bag, Joe pulled out a bandage and presented it to the older man. "Um... you look like you need one of these yourself." Gennai smiled at him and accepted it. He turned to address all the children, knowing that what he next said would determine if they would join him in the digital world and thus so, influence the future of the digiworld.

"The world needs the Digi-destined. I know that you are afraid for your digimon and scared of what might happen. But you need to know that they need some one to save them, and you are the only ones who can." With those simple words the looks on the children's faces changed. Tired eyes were revitalized, mouths that were trembling with fright now stayed firm and determined. The Digi-destined stood strong; ready to fight again for the digiworld.

Tai was the first one to speak. "When do we start?" The rest cheered.

* * *

**"You can come out now, my servant. I know that you are there."**

"_Forgive me my lord, but I need to speak with you. If the old fool has escaped, then does that not mean…"_

**"…that the Digi-destined will arrive? Yes, it does. But I am not worried. I have the Harmonious ones trapped. And I have the four of you to see to the end of the those annoying brats."**

"_You allow us the pleasure of ripping the children to pieces?"_

**"Yes, have your fun. I have more important work. Something that no one has even dreamed to imagine."**

* * *

"I don't understand most of it myself. Prophecies seem to always be very vague." Gennai sat down on Izzy's computer chair. He was about to explain the prophecy that alerted him to the madness in the digital world. He had everyone's undivided attention, including the digimon.

"Basically it talks about the rebirth of an old foe. One that used to have tremendous power, even in its previous state. This foe will arise with far more dark and untold powers. He will summon his minions that were defeated at the hands of the Digi-destined and give them chaotic powers." Gennai stopped here and looked at each of them. "Now pay attention here, these 'minions' will get more chaotic powers, meaning that they were already powerful when you defeated them last."

TK interrupted him here. "Gennai, will we know which of our previous enemies will be give this power."

"No TK I do not know who they are exactly or even how many they number. I do know that they are going to be very powerful." There was a pause to allow the children to soak it up. "The prophecy states that the power of the crest bearers, or the Digi-destined, will bring about the end of this great evil." He sighed and looked more haggard then he had six years ago. "The digital world is in disarray. The time stream is messed up. One day here is equal to a couple of months in the digital world. Then, the next moment, a day equal a few minutes there. There are more and more powerful virus digimon prowling the lands these days. The signs all point to one conclusion. This evil has already arisen"

He was suddenly aware that someone jumped up anxiously, probably to give a necessary pep talk. 'Probably Tai or Davis ready to give the battle charge.' It was Davis who was up and commanding everyone's attention. "Well guys, what are waiting for? Lets go kick some evil digimon hiney!"

"Yeah!" Veemon cheered right by his partner's side.

"Hold on Davis." Tai was now speaking, "From past experiences, I know that there are always more twists and turns in prophecies. Is there anything else Gennai?"

Gennai stared at the leader of the Digi-destined. 'He looks like the same old Tai, but he has grown in more ways then one.' "Your correct Tai. A couple of months ago, Azulongmon disappeared from the face of the digital world. No word from him and no clue to where he went. Then, a few days ago, he came to me in a vision. He told me that the new evil would be more powerful then five Imperialdramons put together."

The silence was deafening. Imperialdramon was the most powerful force in the Digi-destined's repertoire. 'If this force was five times as strong as he is, then…' Izzy didn't finish the thought. It was too frightening.

"Gennai," It was Joe "what are we expected to do? Our Imperialdramon won't be able to fight that kind of power."

At this point Gennai sighed and took a very BIG breath. He let it out and looked at Joe straight in the eye. "He won't have to. Davis and Ken are not going to the digital world."

"WHAT!" The two-affore mentioned boy's stood up screaming bloody murder. "What do you mean we're not going, who else can beat that kind of power?" Some of the others had jumped to their defense. Kari, TK and Sora all complained.

"Gennai, I must protest."

"We are going to need them."

"They can do it Gennai, they've never let us down before." The last comment came from TK. Davis smiled tearfully.

"Gennai is not allowing them to come because they might be needed here." Everyone turned to face the speaker, Matt.

"But how will we be needed here? All the fighting will be done in the digital world, won't it?" Ken asked.

"Not necessarily. When ever we go to the digiworld, we always end up fighting our far share of digimon here, in Japan."

"Matt's correct." Gennai said focusing on Davis. "Azulongmon said that this old foe would amass an army that he would bring into the real world. That means that digiports would open up all over this area with digimon pouring out. Chances are that some of those digimon are mega-leveled digimon. If so, then you two will be the only thing standing in their way."

Cody stepped up at this point. He was aware of the situation and was observing Armadillomon, who was still recovering. "Is that why you wanted to make sure that some digimon got to this side? To help us stop the attack?"

"Yes Cody, these four have the most experience in Odaiba. If Davis and Ken need back up, then you and Yolie will be there for them. Sadly, Gatomon and Patamon are still in the digital world, so you won't be able to fuse into Silphymon or Shakkuomon."

Cody grew worried at this remark but stayed strong. Yolie jumped to action saying, "We've got their backs!"

"Um… I have a question." The voice came from Hawkmon; actually, it came from behind him where Mimi was sitting. She was still reeling from the shock that Palmon sacrificed herself to save the other digimon. "You said that only the powers of our crests would be able to stop the coming evil. Didn't we give up the power of our crests to protect the digital world?"

"Yes, but the crests have always resided inside of you. Your emotions are directly connected to them. So, if you can tap into that residual power inside you, you can free the Harmonious Ones."

Sora picked up on the clue first. "Harmonious Ones? The four sacred Digimon that protect the borders of the digital world? We have to free them?"

Gennai realized that he had not given them any information on this new topic. "Ah yes, um Izzy do you have a map?" Izzy turned to his bookcase and withdrew a folded parchment. Unraveling it showed a map of Tokyo's subway stations. "This will do." Gennai said as he picked up a pencil that was not seen a minute ago and started to draw. He drew two diagonal lines. One started from the northwest corner and ended in the southeast corner. The other was from the northeast corner to the southwest corner. The two lines intersected in the direct middle of the map.

"Imagine that this is a map of the digital world. It is divided into sectors, each of which are maintained and watched over by a Harmonious One. Japan is in the east so all of your endeavors have taken place here," he pointed to the eastern side "in Azulongmon's territory. When the Dark Masters trapped the Harmonious Ones, they did so in their own realms. So to find all the Harmonious Ones, you'll have to travel to the far reaches of their sectors."

Kari looked at the map and asked Gennai. "Azulongmon was already released by the power of TK's and my crest. So what are we expected to do?" "The two of you will have to find out where he has now disappeared to. He didn't tell me who kidnapped him or where they took him when we conversed in my vision. While you two" he said pointing to TK and Kari, "are searching, the others will travel to find Zhuqiaomon, Baihumon and Ebonwumon." He pointed to the south, west and north sectors respectively.

Everyone turned to Davis; they were all expecting him to blow up and say something like 'TP can't be trusted with my Kari!' But strangely, he was silent. Davis was staring out the window while he stroked Veemon's head. He suddenly realized that everyone was staring at him. "Oh, you guys watch yourselves okay. And good luck, TK." TK was heard mumbling something along the lines of "He finally said my name correctly," in stunned voice.

Yolei watched this entire situation unfold before her. She watched as others participated in the debate to save the digital world and had not spoken a word since the digimon arrived. This was because she was always a little insecure on how she could help. So she was speechless when Izzy walked up to her and said, "Yolei, you'll have to be in charge of coordinating everything that happens on this side."

"What? But why me? I mean… I…"

Izzy smiled at her. "Yolei, I'm going to be with the others in the digital world. The only other people who can handle the programming capabilities of a wide-area digital surveillance, are you and Ken. Since Ken will be with Davis when Imperialdramon is needed, you will have to be on your laptop."

Yolei was still unsure of herself. "But what if I mess up?"

"You won't mess up. You're one of the best there is. And besides, you have never let your friends down before." The new voice came from Ken. He was smiling at her reassuringly like he was willing to place all his faith in her. Cody and Davis were also nodding and smiling. So were all the older Digi-destined. To her side was Hawkmon who had placed his working wing on her shoulder and was smiling at her.

"All righty then," she said firmly while jumping up "let me at it."

There was a sudden 'bing' and Joe looked up. "Hey Izzy, your computer is finished downloading." Izzy rushed to check.

"Gennai," he told the older man while still looking at his computer screen "your program is done downloading. It is all set to run."

"Excellent." Gennai said as he explained the last part of his plan. "Now, since the time stream is out of sync, I had to come up with a way to stabilize it. This program is large because it configures the digiworld's time to normal time. It was the only way to make sure that a millennium didn't pass here while you are in the digital world. The bad news is that you will still be gone for a while."

Tai stared wide-eyed. He had forgotten that they couldn't pop in and out of the digital world. "What will we tell our parent's?"

"My mama will be alone with papa at the university."

"I just got back from America, my parents will be furious but they will understand."

"Oh man, I have a project due in a week's time." It was obvious to see which comments came from which person.

Izzy thought for a bit and snapped his fingers and said, "I'll tell my mother what's happening. She will call all the other parents and explain to them. They have a lot of experience with the digimon situation, they might allow us to go." He stepped out of the room for a while. When he returned, fifteen minutes had passed; he was holding what looked like a bag full of rice cakes and his face was red. "She says that she will do it after we leave, so that none of the parents will rush here trying to stop us or come with us." He walked over to his closet and grabbed his raincoat. "She also says that I should dress warmly." He mumbled turning a brilliant red.

"Alright, If you are all ready. I will initiate the program." Gennai turned in the chair and started the process. The elder Digi-destined all moved about trying to say goodbye to the younger group and their digimon. Words of advice were exchanged and hugs were passed around. Davis was surprisingly normal when saying goodbye to Kari and TK. He did however tear up as he hugged Tai and bawled out something about 'mentors' and 'passing the goggles'. Yolei was very emotional when she had to say goodbye to Kari, Mimi and Sora. "Now I'll be the only girl in the group." She sniffled. Cody and Ken kept a straight face as they shook hands, hugged and took Matt's advice of "Watch after yourselves and each other" to heart.

They then all moved to the center of Izzy's room as Gennai finished the final steps of the process. One second there were nine people there waving; then a flash of light, a zap, and there was just dust particles floating in the air.

The Digi-destined had begun their journey.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Ok, it has been a real LONG time since I updated and I apologize profusely for that. I got caught up in finals and all that jazz. Thanks again to everyone and for all your reviews.

A quick note in case I got confused or confused others. I am not sure whether Veemon and Wormon are able to DNA digivolve. I was under the impression that they still could at the season finale and so have written this story with that in mind. I am sorry if this is not canon. Please inform me if I was wrong to do this. Nevertheless, I would still like to continue this story with the fusion into Imperialdramon still possible.

**theladyknight**: To know that you are becoming a fan is one of my greatest pleasures. I have long since admired your style of writing and your stories. I am quite honored that you like this tale.you seem to have a sixth sense as to what is going on. Almost all your assumptions are correct. I won't tell which ones just so the plot isn't spoiled. I am glad you approve of my flash back scenes. I know that you know how to write flashback scenes very well (e.g. Rediscovering Destiny) and am glad that you liked it. Also, I wanted this to center a bit around the season 1 Digi-destined but still have the younger generation play a crucial role in the story. Plus, what Matt said was right, a lot of the fighting does happen in the real world. Thanks for your reviews. I hope to get plenty more form you.

Many thanks to **iLUVmichi, Crimson Blademaster, JyouraKoumi,** **Frodo007, sweet blossom89, Kay, Kat, **and **Kurayumi. **It was an honor to get reviews from the authors and writers that create the stories I adore to read. Please continue to review and update your own stories, I am on the edge of my seat to see the endings.

* * *

Traveling through a digital portal is always a peculiar experience. There is no rush of power, explosion of particles or anything of the sort. The traveler never gets nauseous or dizzy. They do however feel a tug below their chest. It is a slight tug at first, but then it gets stronger, climaxing in a pull powerful enough to drag a tank through. Another side effect is revealed when you exit the portal. Travel between dimensions has a lot to do with light and light is made up of colors, so when traveling through a portal, your eyes are filled with bright colors. This effect lasts a while after a traveler exits the portal. 

This time however, when the Digi-destined came out the other side, all they saw was darkness.

* * *

TK was vaguely aware that someone was shaking him. He slowly opened his eyes hearing someone mumble about him being a 'sleeping beauty'. His vision was still hazy but he was able to make out the outline of his older brother. The events with Gennai swam through his mind, and he jolted up. "That's never happened before." he said rubbing his head while checking for bumps and bruises. 

"What hasn't? " Izzy's voice asked through the darkness.

"Through all the times spent in the digiworld and travel back home, we never blacked out during the travel process." TK explained to them "I'm sure that Davis and the others never experienced anything like this before either."

"Mmmhmm"

"What was that?"

"Mmmmhm…hey, where are we?" It was Joe. Walking towards TK, Matt and Izzy, he stumbled into the darkened area they were in. "Why is it so dark here?"

"We're not sure. As far as I know, Tai is of looking for the others and Gennai is surveying the area." Matt told them. He explained Gennai's need to secure their location and Tai's recon mission to see where the other had landed. Matt had found TK and stayed to awaken him.

After a few moments Tai walked up to them with Sora, Kari, and Mimi trailing behind him. "I found the girls, any one seen Gennai?"

No sooner had he asked did the man in question return carrying a lantern. "Sorry I took so long. I apologize for the rough journey, it was an unforeseen consequence of the time correlation program that I implemented."

"Where are we Gennai?" Sora asked as they all gathered into a circle.

"Apparently, we're not far from my old home, the one you found before the assault on Myotismon's castle." he replied.

"Why is it so dark?"

"I'm not sure. Remember, any amount of time could have passed between when I left and now. Many things could have changed."

Matt was in awe. "Wow, I still can't believe that the timeline's so out of sync. We used to be able to come back and forth so often. Now, things are just so different."

TK looked around the group and noticed something awry. Kari was standing a little away from the group looking around nervously. He made his way up to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. When she unexpectedly jumped, he raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong Kari?"

Kari calmed down when she realized who it was. Whispering low she told TK, "It looks so different, like it's turning into…"

"…The Dark Ocean." TK realized. It did look a bit like the Dark Ocean; the lake nearby was an eerie black and the non-light that enshrouded them was almost exactly like his memory of the blackened world. "Is that what has you worried? You think that we are in the Dark Ocean instead of the Digital world?"

"No, I think that the digiworld is turning into the Dark Ocean."

* * *

Lights flickered on and off as the nine humans walked through the doorway. The individuals treaded through a familiar place that seemed foreign now. Furniture was torn to shreds and there were holes in the wall, but it was a place for the night. 

"So…" Mimi said as she unconsciously rubbed her arm in a nervous manner. They all looked at each other, wondering what exactly their next move was.

"It's still before five in the evening here, even though it doesn't look it" Gennai said, adding the latter part in a softer voice. "We should probably figure out a plan to help get the digimon out. But first, I'll show you to your rooms." He led them down a hallway that was falling down.

As Joe passes an old beaten up room that seemed to have lost its roof, he paused to stare inside. 'If this is the damage done to a simple room, I wonder how the rest of the house looks like.' His thoughts were interrupted when a shingle that was hanging lose decided to go with gravity and crashed an inch from Joe. With a yelp and a flutter of feet the eldest Digi-destined was gone.

The nine of them entered one of the less damaged rooms. It consisted of a few tables and six beds filled with the clutter from an assault. Gennai turned to everyone and explained. "This is one of the better rooms. The boys can sleep here and you girls can sleep in the next room. You will need to clear it up a bit and move some of the rubble from the floor first, but it will suffice for living quarters."

"Alright then, let's get started!"

The next hour was spent cleaning up the place and tidying up the beds. The girls were quiet for the most part while Matt and Tai turned a pillow fight into an all out war. Half way through TK popped up and told everyone that he discovered that the shower was working. Three blurs sped out from the girl's room and quarreling could be heard in the shower room. The boys laughed their way through till dinner.

Gennai summoned them all over to the largest hall in the middle of the building, that was oddly untouched. As they all congregated there Gennai brought out some ramen. How he got fresh ramen in the digital world was beyond them but they all ate thankfully. After a relatively quite meal the elder man placed his bowl down and started the conversation off. "We need to discuss how to get the digimon out from their captivity."

Izzy interrupted the older man and asked, "Pardon me Gennai, but where are they being kept in the first place?"

"Ah, of course." Gennai apologized "I am getting ahead of myself ahead. Apparently, a month and a half passed between when Veemon, Wormmon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, and I left through the portal and when Izzy implemented the Time Shift program I created. During this time the digimon, in statue forms were moved to a fortress to be displayed as trophies." He turned his head in disgust as the girls did the same and Digi-destined males clenched their fists in anger.

"Luckily, the statues are still in perfect condition and there is a strong possibility that they can be revived with no side effects." The others brightened up at that statement. "Now while it would normally be impossible to revive them without destroying the Kokatorimon twins, I was able to get us a little assistance. Deramon if you please…" From out of the shadows of the door, a bird stepped out. This particular bird had a crown and a large bush for a tail. As the waddling bird stepped up, the Digi-destined smiled warmly at him.

Gennai continued. "Deramon here has been working on a special balm that should revive the digimon."

"Yes, yes. It's true." The bird squawked, "It is a strange blend of a Blossomon's pollen and the juice from Cherrymon's cherries. Some restorative powers from the spring near Primary Village were also added to improve the effect."

"So does this mean that we just need to apply the balm to the statues?" Kari asked.

"Yes, once applied it will take a minute to work and then you can escape with them." Deramon answered.

"So how exactly are we supposed to get in there? We could sneak in there but we don't have any digimon for backup in case we get caught." Tai asked. It seemed like he had already thought it through and just needed to work a couple of bugs out. So he raised, a champion ready to battle. The others rose with him as Gennai announced that they should all get some sleep as he decided to work on their little problem. Thus, the Digi-destined had a long night where they contemplated the next day's events.

* * *

"Couldn't sleep?" 

Sora turned towards the voice that filled the room. She was unable to get to rest with all the events that were occurring and so decided to take a walk. The walk turned into a reconnaissance mission as she evaluated to structural integrity and stability of Gennai's home. Thus she had wound up near what might have once have been a balcony.

Matt stepped out of the shadows that he tended to blend in with. Though his blonde head of hair might have stood out, his black clothes allowed him to disappear easily enough. He walked up to his girlfriend and stood by her while staring out into the black night.

Sora smiled at him gently and answered him, "Yeah, I'm just restless about tomorrow. And so much has happened today, it was all a surprise. I just need to get used to all of this again." She then looked at Matt expecting to remark on the situation.

Answering her unasked question, he grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "The digimon will be fine Sor, We won't let them down. We **will** get them out of there." He looked up to see her eyes glistening.

"How do you do that, Matt?"

"Do what?"

"How do you know exactly what to say to make me feel better?"

Matt merely squeezed her hand a little more and smiled at the girl.

After a while they started talking about the digital world, digimon, Gennai and Tai's hair. Neither of them knew hot the last subject got into their discussion but they were grateful that it lightened to mood and gave cause to smile. A couple hours into the night Sora noticed something peculiar.

"Matt, how did your arms wind up around me?"

Matt's arms quickly untangled themselves and he shot up standing and began to move away. As he did, Sora's hand grasped his and held him still.

"I don't mind Matt. You don't need to worry."

"I know Sora, it's just…if I… I mean… I can't…"

Sora stood up and gathered his hands in hers and held them tight. She sighed and blinked back the tears of sadness and looked up at him. She reached out with one hand and gently caressed his face. "Hush Matt, I know you're afraid. It's okay. Just, just hold me for now, for the moment." She pushed her face closer till it was on his shoulder. She whispered in his ear, "I need you, please?"

Matt slowly nodded and sat down with her. As she faced her back to him and leant into him, he folded his arms around her and let his chin fall on top of her soft auburn hair. There they sat watching, as one star was able to peek out of the blackness and shine down on them.

After a while Matt heard the soft rhythmic sounds of Sora sleeping. Smiling to himself, he scooped her up carefully and carried her back to the girl's room. Entering quietly, he set her on the empty bed with a red bed sheet and pillow. Before stepping out of the room he whispered out to the shadows, "I am sorry Sora, I am not ready yet. Not yet." He then closed the door and stepped quietly back to his room.

* * *

Joe was the first one up. He had been getting up early due to schoolwork and projects; today was no exception to the early wake up. He took a walk around to make sure that everything was well. Izzy, Matt, Tai and TK were all asleep. Tai's bed sheet was thrown of the bed as he lay haphazardly on the mattress and TK was getting closer and closer to the edge. Matt's mouth was wide open and Izzy was snoring. 'It's all quite a sight' Joe thought to himself. He carefully checked to girl's room to make sure that they were okay. Seeing them sleeping peacefully he closed the door and continued down the corridor and happened to come across Gennai's room. The older man was working on a computer, typing restlessly as he stared at the monitor's screen with dark circles under his eyes. 

"Come on in, Joe."

Ever jumpy, Joe leapt up in the air and stuttered through, "I'm, I'm sorry G…Gennai." He stopped to collect himself. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

Gennai laughed at the younger boy. "That's quite alright Joe, I actually needed the interruption. I've been at this all night."

"What is it?"

"This is a computer program that simulates Piximon's invisible force field. It's probably the best way for the eight of you to get into the fortress without getting caught. I can integrate the program into the digivices to allow each of you to scout the place without being caught."

Joe's eye's widened substantially. 'This is it; we have a way to get them back. Hold on Gommamon, we're coming.' "Gennai, this is great news, we can get in and get out without any problem. Is there anything that I can help with?"

"Actually, yes. I need to test out the program. Do you mind being the…uh…guinea pig?" Gennai asked.

Joe froze up. "Guinea pig!" 'This is for Gommamon. I'll do it for Gommamon.' He sighed and looked back up. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Don't worry Joe, You won't blow up or anything."

* * *

An hour or so later sounds were heard from outside. Joe and Gennai crept outside to see what was happening. They were greeted with sight of Matt and a bonfire. The blonde had started it and was now adding more wood. As they made their way to him, he looked up and greeted them. "Morning guys, you up for breakfast?" 

Gennai's stomach rumbled in response and the elder man turned away blushing. Joe grinned and asked Matt, "So what are we having for breakfast?"

"Fresh fruit," came the response, but it wasn't from Matt. Izzy walked up to them carrying a backpack full of fruit. "We might also get some fish if TK catches anything." he continued, tilting his head in the direction of a stream where TK was wading with a makeshift spear. TK threw the spear a few feet in front of him and lifted it up to find a largish fish stuck on the end of it. Joe was reminded of Gommamon and his 'Marching Fishes' attack. As they all continued to watch Matt and Izzy roast some of the fruit, a crash was hear from inside.

"Whoops, ah Gennai," Sora said as she poked her head out from the window, "your collection of plates is now one short. I kind of broke one. Sorry about that."

"That's okay Sora, Ogremon breaks more dishes then that when ever he comes to visit." the old man replied smiling. He proceeded to help her out in setting the table. Joe went about helping Matt and Izzy.

TK, in the meantime was finishing his fishing. He quickly wiped his shins and feet before collecting the fish and heading in. He had convinced Sora earlier to clean and gut the fishes he caught. On his way to the kitchen he came across Kari. "Hey Kari, did you just wake up?"

The brunette turned to him smiling. "Yup, just woke up and ready to get breakfast. What are we having?"

TK held up his catch. "Fish for breakfast and I'm pretty sure that Izzy was successful in getting some fresh fruit."

"Oh, fresh fruit sounds great. Do you want help cleaning the fish?"

"Sora, is actually gonna help me with that, but I wouldn't mind your company. You know I never do."

Kari playfully swatted his arm. "TK, you're making me blush. Come on, let's go help Sora."

On their way to the kitchen Kari turned and asked, "So who is still asleep?"

"Well, the only ones I haven't seen are Mimi and Tai, Tai was snoring when we all got up and I am guessing that Mimi is still suffering from jet lag."

Kari was about to say something when they heard a scream.

"TAI, GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF THAT BATHROOM. I WAS THERE FIRST AND I NEED TO FRESHEN UP!"

"MIMI, QUIT SHOUTING, I JUST WOKE UP. AND I WAS HERE FIRST SO THERE. PLUS YOU LOOK FINE. I, HOWEVER, NEED TO FIX MY HAIR."

"YOUR HAIR ALWAYS LOOKS THE SAME NO MATTER WHAT, NOW GET OUT!"

TK turned to Kari and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess they're up now."

* * *

Looming in the distance stood the fortress, ominous and foreboding. In the middle was the main hall, where Nanimon and Roachmon patrolled. A high wall surrounded the entire area and was completed with a couple of towers that stood to the side and watched over the forest below where the Digi-destined hid. 

Gennai turned to the Digi-destined and explained the plan. "Okay, the force field will keep you invisible from the other digimon and allow you to find our digimon. I was able to get it to last for quite a while. There was one problem though that neither Izzy nor myself were able to sort out. It seems that the digivices react to one another and the force field grows unstable when two digivices are close together. "

"What does that mean?" Mimi asked.

"Basically, if two of us are close together, the force field will dampen and fail allowing others to see us" Izzy took over the conversation. "We can use the mapping program on the digivices to see where everyone is and just have to stay away from each other. First we will sneak in through the front gate when it opens for supplies. One at a time, we will have to go through the gate activating our force field along the way. Split up in different directions immediately after passing through the gate, if you find the digimon radio each other through the digivices. Ready?" Everyone nodded.

There was a rumbling sound as the gates started to creak open. Izzy gave a nod to Tai, who replied with the same. He then walked towards the edge of the trees and pressed something on his digivice and promptly disappeared. Gennai watched as, one by one, the others walked to the forest line and disappeared into thin air. Izzy was the last to go. He watched as the last supply caravan trotted to the gate. Acting swiftly he activated his program and disappeared as the others did. From empty air Gennai heard him whisper "Guess we'll see you on our way out, Gennai."

Left alone, the old man watched as the last caravan trotted past the gate and the hulking door shut with a thud. "Good luck Digi-destined."


End file.
